Well they have a charity regulator in the UK called the UK Charities Commission. Their job is to force proper reporting of donated funds, help make sure that no-one is pinching charity money or that certain charities aren't just disguised salary and perk operations for chancers.

I think years back the NSPCC were running a shockingly bad ratio of overheads compared to what they were granting and some other charities as well were getting too fond of mercedes limos for their boards.

An example of the way politicians use charity funding to get around declaring donations is to set up a charity- Gordon Brown had the Smith Foundation which on the face of it gives the impression that he was setting up a charity for the former leader who died John Smith.

What it turned out to be was a home for a slush fund for Gordon Brown's leadership campaign of the Labour Party. It was a cover for donations from heavy hitters to back him with money. The charity has been de-registered now that the Charity Commission started sniffing around it.

In Ireland two years ago to great fanfare a charity regulator was announced. We've never heard another word.

As I say there are 7,000 charities in Ireland and at least two I can think of are not charities at all but lobbying organisations for narrow vested interests and are registered also as companies so as to hide their accounts behind the Companies Registrar paywall.

This subject came up about six months ago and a poster who I am sure was connected with the organisation I took as an example was displaying all the signs of Fianna Fail distress (extreme denial that anything underhand could be going on at all at all, and a snotty demand that I examine the accounts). The poster obviously thought I wouldn't pay out for the accounts so was hoping to bluff me away from the official returns.

When I went through the accounts I found that that same organisation was apparently accepting money from strange quarters.

Put it this way- in the UK no organisation could get away with the capers this Irish 'charity' was up to. It was a charity for tax purposes, a company in order to hide its accounts behind that barrier explained above and declared itself to be a 'lobbying' organisation in its own words on a government consultation document.

Believe me I have every reason to believe having seen the edges of this particularly well known and well-lunched board of trustees that the Irish Charity sector will be as clean as the Dail ie there's plenty of organised corruption in there.

With no regulator how do donors to Irish charities know that their donations are getting to the frontline and not being pissed across some bar by a charity executive with a merc?

You just have to trust them. In other words what I'm saying is that the charity sector in Ireland shows some alarming signs of being used by the corrupt.

Think National. Act Local. Oh- and superstition is just the dark matter of human history.

I know the church has some kind of fake pregnancy advice clinic which is staffed by pro-lifers whose main aim is not to provide information in a non-judgemental way but their actual aim to is to lean on people they think could potentially seek an abortion and pull tricks like barrage them with pro-lifer propaganda. They advertise as a non-judgmental advice service but basically its a sham run by nuns.

I believe that is set up as a charity.

Think National. Act Local. Oh- and superstition is just the dark matter of human history.

Well they have a charity regulator in the UK called the UK Charities Commission. Their job is to force proper reporting of donated funds, help make sure that no-one is pinching charity money or that certain charities aren't just disguised salary and perk operations for chancers.

In Ireland two years ago to great fanfare a charity regulator was announced. We've never heard another word.

With no regulator how do donors to Irish charities know that their donations are getting to the frontline and not being pissed across some bar by a charity executive with a merc?

yeah i was doing some research about charities recently and in ireland its the tax revenue that still calls the shots

Then the priest answered & said unto the Queen of Space, kissing her lovely brows, and the dew of her light bathing his whole body in a sweet-smelling perfume of sweat: O Nuit, continuous one of Heaven, let it be ever thus; that men speak not of Thee as One but as None; and let them speak not of thee at all, since thou art continuous! Liber AL vel Legis 1:27

'The Act further provides that any organisation that holds charitable tax exemptions from the Revenue Commissioners on the day the Register of Charities is introduced will be automatically deemed to be entered onto the Register, and thus such organisations will not have to apply to the new Authority for registration.'

Well that neatly gets around the problem of Irish 'charities' having to explain or justify their charity and tax exempt status. Another 'Going Forward' solution to a historically dirty problem which manages to avoid challenging the status quo.

Think National. Act Local. Oh- and superstition is just the dark matter of human history.

Weve our own charity commison set up in the North Ire. They will be reviewing the status of all present charities. Though they havent yet been able to accept new registration because of some ammendments, that funny enough are being discussed in stormont today. The NI charity commison has a full website that explains everything relevent. The ROI hasnt anything excet for a few articles relating to tax on the Tax and Revenue site

Originally Posted by Captain Con O'Sullivan

Thanks Jane ... I note this bit with some amusement;

'The Act further provides that any organisation that holds charitable tax exemptions from the Revenue Commissioners on the day the Register of Charities is introduced will be automatically deemed to be entered onto the Register, and thus such organisations will not have to apply to the new Authority for registration.'

Well that neatly gets around the problem of Irish 'charities' having to explain or justify their charity and tax exempt status. Another 'Going Forward' solution to a historically dirty problem which manages to avoid challenging the status quo.

Then the priest answered & said unto the Queen of Space, kissing her lovely brows, and the dew of her light bathing his whole body in a sweet-smelling perfume of sweat: O Nuit, continuous one of Heaven, let it be ever thus; that men speak not of Thee as One but as None; and let them speak not of thee at all, since thou art continuous! Liber AL vel Legis 1:27

Re: What's Up in Irish Charities ?

On Twitter Damian O Broin says 'Agreed on danger of no regs. But it's been the sector itself that has pushed for regulation - pols dragging heels for decade'

Obviously plenty of genuine charities in the mix, but amongst 7000 who FF refuse to regulate, there must be something they prefer to hide. Any one have any particular evidence of malpractice? I looked up one that Nipper mentioned (above).

Re: What's Up in Irish Charities ?

It was only when I became interested in one Irish organisation in particular and suddenly got the 'eyes off' brush off from someone connected in some way that I started to get the creeps and looked at the organisation in question in some depth but I'll say only that they are not what most people in the country would assume they are from their name.

In digging around that one I realised that there was huge potential for tax evasion and a route for possible political donations (and payoffs) that I started looking to see what regulation there was.

Effectively very little. And I think certain vested interests would prefer it stay that way. The 'going forward' element of plans for Irish charity regulation leaves neatly behind it some 7,000 existing charities- or rather organisations registered for tax exemption under IR rules.

There's a smell off that sector. An essentially unregulated sector handling large sums of money.

Think National. Act Local. Oh- and superstition is just the dark matter of human history.

Re: What's Up in Irish Charities ?

Originally Posted by Captain Con O'Sullivan

It was only when I became interested in one Irish organisation in particular and suddenly got the 'eyes off' brush off from someone connected in some way that I started to get the creeps and looked at the organisation in question in some depth but I'll say only that they are not what most people in the country would assume they are from their name.

In digging around that one I realised that there was huge potential for tax evasion and a route for possible political donations (and payoffs) that I started looking to see what regulation there was.

Effectively very little. And I think certain vested interests would prefer it stay that way. The 'going forward' element of plans for Irish charity regulation leaves neatly behind it some 7,000 existing charities- or rather organisations registered for tax exemption under IR rules.

There's a smell off that sector. An essentially unregulated sector handling large sums of money.

here in the north when a shop goes out of business through not being able to cover its expenses then the landlord will try to get a charity shop in to replace it for the reason that charity shops are rates excempt or else really cheap. a lot of charity shops provide a good living for the workers there and the whatever profit usually small, just goes to the charity for whatever cause. there are quite a few animal charities that are just there to provide an easy living for the manager and workers etc

Then the priest answered & said unto the Queen of Space, kissing her lovely brows, and the dew of her light bathing his whole body in a sweet-smelling perfume of sweat: O Nuit, continuous one of Heaven, let it be ever thus; that men speak not of Thee as One but as None; and let them speak not of thee at all, since thou art continuous! Liber AL vel Legis 1:27